John Bavicchi, 2009 October 2
John Bavicchi, composer and Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music, describes his early career; his relationship with other professors and staff at Berklee, particularly during his early years on the faculty in the 1960s; job opportunities and trajectories for Berklee composition students; and the development and function of various classes he taught, including Composition, Conducting, Beethoven, and Bartók. He also discusses conductors who performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra including Serge Kovssevitsky, Erich Leinsdorf, and Seiji Ozawa, and the modern relationship between computers and music.
Boston-born music educator and composer John Bavicchi (1922-2012) began his career as a civil engineer, receiving a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1942, and pursued additional studies at Cornell University and Newark College of Engineering before serving with the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II. From 1948 to 1952, Bavicchi attended the New England Conservatory under the GI Bill, followed by Harvard Graduate School (1952-1955), where he studied composition under Walter Piston. Bavicchi taught music in schools such as the South End Music Center and Rivers Country Day School. He joined Berklee School of Music in 1964, where he led the development of the traditional music courses alongside Composition department founder William Maloof. For over forty years, Bavicchi taught courses in composition, music history, and conducting. He also chaired the Music Composition and History departments. He retired in 1995, though he continued to work part-time. He served as Vice President of the Brookline Library of Music Association (1954-1975), and also conducted for numerous local orchestras and choruses, including the Arlington Philharmonic Society Orchestra and Chorus and the Arlington-Belmont Chorale. Bavicchi received numerous ASCAP Awards for Composition and the 2003 Choral Arts New England's Lifetime Achievement Award.
